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Sunday, August 22, 2010

One day Dan (my wonderful boyfriend) called me and said "A man at work is clearing out his father's house and has some furniture he wants to get rid of. Any chance you want any of it?" My reply?? "Um, YEA! I'll take it all!!"

Most of the pieces were extremely large and heavy and bulky and would take a century to fix up, but these chairs were among the pile of loot.

Not quite sure why there was only 2, but I figured I would make each one as cute as I could. The crushed velvet really wasn't working for me!

My third thought sided with my first thought and I debated for quite awhile.

I compromised and decided one would be wild and one would be classic.

I bought really pretty (really expensive) ruffle trim at Joann's and glued that along the edges to finish it off. Very elegant ;)

I know it's only one chair instead of a set, but I look at it as a one-of-a-kind chair. You won't find another one like it anywhere, and it can hold it's own in any room without looking out of place or lonely.

If you've been following along this whole time, you might remember a post a couple months back about my "chair-ity" work I bombarded myself with. Well, most of the 8 chairs I had stockpiled have been finished. Except for one....

You probably laughed at me when I said not to worry, it would look pretty someday, I promise.

Well, it went from this...

...to this...

...to THIS!!

See, I told you it would look pretty!!

So, how'd I do it??

After having ripped the entire thing apart, I let it sit in the basement for 3 months while I let ideas marinate in my head (read: I had no idea what to do).

I left myself with a barebones chair and no clue where to even begin.

Finally, I started to clear out old projects that were taking up space, and I had an epiphany about this one. After painting it raspberry pink :) I built 3 individual padded panels for the back of the chair where the holes were. I nailed them into place and added trim all around the edges. I covered the springs with backing material and bought a new cushion that I cut to size. Then i wrapped the material over the cushion and stapled along the edge and then added more trim to hide all the staples.

Of course, pink isn't for everyone, but black just seemed too obvious a choice for this fabric that I really loved. So pink it is! I envision it in a little girl's room or as a cozy corner chair in a cute little eclectic apartment (like mine!).

Friday, August 20, 2010

I blogged about this a few posts back. Perfect as a night stand, just needed some love....

(pre-love)

(post-love)

I had stripped it and it just wasn't coming clean. So painting it was my only option. I had intended to go with a green color similar to the one it started out as. But I realized there was plenty of brown paint leftover from the accent wall in the bedroom it would be going in. BINGO! It meant I didn't have to buy more paint and it was sure to match in the room. The plain paint didn't seem to do it by itself. So I added some stain overtop (dabbed it on with a rag) and it turned out looking a lot like leather.

And to top it off.........

I found it a brother!!!

While visiting in New York last week, it was sitting out by the road and I scooped it up. It didn't have drawers, but I plan to just put shelves in the slots instead. It's weird how, 2 states away, I found an almost perfect match for it! Super excited to get started on this one!!

My previous post mentioned the great find I got on the corner. But you're asking yourself "She mentioned 2 great finds - what's the other one??" Well, need not to worry....

Isn't she gorgeous???

Somewhat reminiscent of my own dresser I posted about in the very beginning of my blog.

I bet back in her heyday, this pretty little thing was quite the looker. I love the waved front just like the other one. The top is in almost as bad of shape too. The drawers all slide in and out perfectly though. The only missing piece is a handle on the bottom drawer. No big deal - easily fixable. I began stripping the top 2 drawers and it worked fantastically (stain is ALWAYS easier to remove than paint!).

Stayed tuned for her unveiling - and if you know of a good home for her, please let me know :)

I was on my way to Dan's after work this past Saturday....almost there....turned the corner on to his street...and BAM! There it was. A neighbor was moving out and had the nerve to leave 2 beautiful pieces of furniture by the side of the road. I almost hit a tree craning my neck to see what goodies had been left behind. I pulled into his driveway and was yelling for him as I ran to the backdoor. He was sitting on the porch and practically threw his neck out rolling his eyes at my "I found furniture on the corner!" exclamation. (just kidding - he really is very tolerable of my sickness). I was all aflutter talking really fast about walking back to the house before someone else could take my treasures. Luckily we had a friend's pickup truck for the weekend and Dan hopped in and followed me to the corner where I picked up this.....

I couldn't believe it either! Totally Awesome! And I already have the perfect spot for it! Dan's kingsize bed is so high that there aren't any nightstands tall enough for it. I've been looking for something for forever and here it is! Perfect size and height for next to his bed!!

I got to work right away, mainly because I was super excited!

I went to Home Depot and got a gallon can of furniture stripper...

Eww and ewwww

It stripped most of the green and barely any of the yellow underneath (I think it was just a different kind of paint).

I'm pretty confident that once I get my hands on my powersander, the rest of the paint will be history. I'm not sure it will be suitable for staining, but I don't mind painting a piece every now and then.

Hello, there!!

I'm Jess. I'm an Interior Designer and avid upholsterer, furniture refinisher, blogger, and craftaholic.This is the place I tell all my stories. This is how I keep sane from day to day. This is my after-hours job. This is my before and after catalog of my greatest work. But most importantly....This Is My Life.